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rover6

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Everything posted by rover6

  1. Thanks to Den, USABlue, American, Le Chuck, Hughesy, Paul, FifeRover, Tashor, Philipl, Shevchenko, Tugay4England, Krislu and all the others who have been like an army of midwives, easing my out of teenagerhood into adulthood. Sorry for squealing so much, and the mess. It's over now and I have to live.

  2. My love of football has virtually died. I will always admire skilful play but the whole business of ardently following the pantomime from week to week, with partisan gusto - nah... The magic has died.

  3. Phil and parsonblue, still think that Moko is a useful Premier League footballer...?
  4. Is it time for certain people to munch on some humble pie, after re-reading this thread? I've done plenty of humble pie-ing myself, in the past, so you guys....take it away... BTW: Pompey fans have twigged Moko, taken from a Pompey forum: "He's got to be the worst captain since John Lathan way back in the 1970's. I cannot see what he gives the side , he hasn't got a first touch , he loses possession , he can't pass , turned easily when defending but he makes a loverly cup of tea though." I think that history will show that Mokoena was one of the worst footballers to wear a Rovers first team shirt regularly. He was in the right place at the right time and has made his millions from that. Objectively speaking, he is a dreadful player. (Although, I do admire his self-belief. It takes something special to get away with such ineptitude. In fact, it's his self-belief that's the only thing keeping him at this level. His ability to disregard the reality of his crapness is almost George Bush-esque.)
  5. From Gray's BBC blog about the recent Steel Derby. I felt quite relaxed in the tunnel and had a bit of a laugh with my old team-mates from Blackburn, Keith Treacy and Andy Taylor, asking if they were nervous. Keith looks like he's just got out of bed every time I see him so I asked if he had brushed his hair with a toffee apple, to which he replied: "Shut it, old man."
  6. Harkins helped Dundee to beat SPL Aberdeen in the cup. His star is rising... BTW: I found a little about Sergio Peter's background and it goes some way to explaining him. Apparently, he is of gypsie heritage and he grew up in a very tough, crime-ridden area. He must have needed hubris to get out of that and then work his way through the inevitable racism and become a good football player. It may not excuse his bad attitude but it does go some way to explaining it. Since leaving Prague, I think he is going to join his old team in Mannheim.
  7. There is absolutely no way of proving this but I would dispute this. From what I read, it seems that Harkins has some technical skill. Mokoena has nothing but brawn and the gift of the gab. Pompey are shipping goals and Moko's the man who's meant to be stemming opposition attacks. He is currently being selected because the myopic Pompey management can't see beyond his experience and size. Many a experienced player has lived off his reputation well beyond the days when he was contributing anything to anyone (eg Flitcroft in his final seasons at Rovers).
  8. If he was a bit more agile, he'd be a superb defender. As it is, he's useful. Good luck to him.
  9. Yup, excellent book. So ambitious and Steinbeck pulls it off. I agree that it does dawdle but that was inevitable considering he wanted to write about a series of generations. Very thought-provoking. Incidentally, anyone read Grapes of Wrath and/or Ulysses? Despite many strong recommendations, I lost interest in GoW early on. I don't know why because Steinbeck is a great author. I'll have to try it again - this time, not on train journeys! As for Ulysses - gave me a headache... So many classical quotations that are meaningless to me and so many blimin' obscure words. I gave up - but, again, I have to give it another go soon.
  10. Stopforth is playing in the US.
  11. Thanks for the update, PB. I would just say that, interest from Premier League clubs is not a foolproof criterion for quality. Otherwise, Nigel Quashie and Djimi Traore would be world beaters. No matter how much interest, I and most ROvers fans have seen enough to know that Mokoena is dreadful. I will never forget his attempt to mark Teddy Sheringham for a goal we conceded from a cross. Just shocking. I make one of the infamous rover6 predictions here and now, "WIthin the next two years, Aaron Mokoena will disappear into obscurity and Harkins will be making a success of his career in either SPL or maybe CHamp." I am hundred percent confident about Mokoena's career demise, and the Harkins prediction is going on his current amazing form. BTW: Do you know what happened to Ralph Welch. He was the tempestuous left winger who was a good player for our U18s/reserves, when he wasn't being sent off. He got chucked out of the Liverpool academy for some misdemeanour, I think, before joining us.
  12. I appreciate that you are more factually endowed here, PB, but I think you are clutching at straws. Even if you gave Mokoena an acre of space against a dwarf defender, he still wouldn't come across as skilful. Harkins renaissance needs more explanation than "he has more space" in Scottish 2nd level. Yeah - I have been vaguely aware of Ian Black's progress. Although, I would argue that surely he can't be that good if he still can't get into the Scottish squad when he's playing for Hearts. I mean - Gary Teale gets in the squads for Scotland! A player whose career I followed a bit was that of Adam Nelson. I think he was part of Rovers Youth Cup finalist side (thrashed by Arsenal) and, although he never made it, he forged a half-decent lower league career in Scotland as a creative, skilful right midfielder. Not sure where he plays now but I think he was at Brechin. Another player that fell away was left winger, Andy Reid (not the Irish version). I'm not sure if you know much about him? He played for our U18s and he, Treacy and Peter were a triumverate of lefties that seemed to promise much competition for Damien Duff. Didn't materialise!
  13. Of course, he'll have to be in the Scotch Prem before he can hope of international caps but I don't think that that will be far off, barring injuries. At Dundee, he seems to have picked up where he left Partick. He'll either get signed or promoted. Nothing more than a "Workmalike midfielder" EXACTLY my point. Back in Scotland he has turned into a Damien Duff type runner with the ball, from all that I'm reading. That's the mystery. Yes, a number of youngsters have done well on being released to return up North. However, I do not believe that any of the names you have mentioned received the rave reviews that Harkins is receiving. Neither did they undergo Jekyll-Hyde kind of transformation in style, either. I await further news about Harkins with interest. I like to see ex-Rovers youngsters do well - and because I see skilful football as the apotheosis of football, I am very happy to see an ex-Rovers skilful youngster flourish.
  14. Thanks FLB... it does please me, in a way. With Harkins, however, I am not casting any blame on Rovers (not yet...) - I'm just plain bemused. (If I hadn't made it clear!). There is little doubt that he will be in the Scotland national team before long. I say it again: How does a tough-tackling defensive midfielder/centre back of our reserve team, who made little impression during loan spells in the lower leagues, suddenly become a skilful dazzler of a midfielder? You may cite the standard of the Scottish league - but I guarentee that if you put Mokoena - or Keith Andrews in the Scottish 1st Division you would not be hearing about how marvellous his running with the ball is and the flair-some nature of his game - however long you left them there. I wonder if anybody watched much of Harkins at Rovers. Did he show signs of skill back then?
  15. As I watched a bit of the dismal squalor that was ENgland v Slovenia, the sight of the brawny Glenn Johnson sending a Slovenian player flying with a mere touch put an interesting similie in my head. The England team trying to play intricate, skilful football is like a herd of thoroughbred horses trying to perform ballet.
  16. You didn't understand what I was saying. The fans thought that Hargreaves was useless because Sven made him useless. Sven used Hargreaves on the left wing and in various odd cameo, time-wasting roles - for most of the time. Those fans deserve criticism for disparaging a player who had not had a real chance in his best position. Sven deserves criticism for not playing the player in his best position.
  17. Still think that there's not much to choose between Sven and McClaren, in terms of managerial ability. Remember, Sven had a Mr O.Hargreaves at his disposal for a long time and never chose to use him barring as a time-wasting left wing sub. England fans, in fact, many people on this MB, were convinced on the basis of these cameos, that Hargreaves was a talentless Jenas who was only in the squad because he was on the books at Bayern. Sven wasted Hargreaves England career. Which seems to be coming to an end now due to his chronic injuries. One of the best DM England has seen for a decade and he got how many starts in DM under Sven?
  18. That may be true but the most bizarre thing is that at Rovers he was a defensive player. He either played DM or CB. Suddenly, he's at Partick, then Dundee and they consider him a wing wizard, with tremendous flair and vision. It makes no sense to me! A centre back turned silky midfielder...?! Take a look at this: Dundee fans on Harkins
  19. I was wondering if anyone knows much about Gary Harkins career since he left Rovers to return to Scotland. The BBC match report for Dundee's recent match has Harkins creating both of their goals - the first after a "mazy dribble." At Rovers, Harkins was always a defensive midfielder or central defender. It seems remarkable that he's now transformed into a gung-ho ball-running midfielder... What magic has done this?
  20. I only make this post to correct cn174. Donnelly did more than impress at U16. He impressed at England U19 level alongside a D.Bentley. He also impressed at reserve level and League One level. This lead Graeme Souness, not one to freely promote youth players (Gally is the only one he freely promoted, i believe), to call up Donnelly (along with Danns and Douglas) to the first team squad, although, Donnelly never made it to the bench. It went horribly wrong but no-one can say that he had no potential. For whatever reason it did go wrong, he ended up being shoved onto the right wing for the reserves because they didn't know what else to do them. And there he played out the final and dismal days of his Rovers career. I guarentee that reserve regulars of the time will tell you that Donnelly was at least as good as Danns, who is playing out a half-decent Champ/League 1 career. Why he collapsed so horrendously requires knowledge of details that I don't have. I still partially blame Souness for not giving Donnelly and other young players incentive appearances to psychologically motivate their development and self-discipline - but that cannot explain how far Donnelly fell.
  21. Just a little round-up for those who like these things: Josh O'Keefe (Irish CM) - Walsall Tony Kane (NI RB) - Carlisle Jemal Johnson (US LW/CF) - MK Dons, resigned by Ince Dean Winnard (CB) - Accy Stanley - played against our ressies recently Bryan Hodge (Scottish CM) - Partick Thistle Gary Harkins (Scottish CM) - Dundee (transfer from Partick Thistle) Andreas Arestidou (GK) - Shrewsbury Bjoern Bussman (German GK) - 1860 Munich Rostyn Griffiths - (Aus CM) - North Queensland Fury Jonathan Bateson (RB) - Bradford City Jamie Clarke (CF) - Lincoln City (released by Rotherham) Andy Taylor (LB) - Sheffield United (signed from Tranmere) Gary Stopforth (CM) - New Orleans Jesters! Captain.
  22. Bryan, if you are not sure of the reasons, why are you arguing? Surely, you need to comprehend my reasons before being so dismissive - or is it just a case of putting me down - to hell with his reasons? I have spent many years (literally!) putting forward my arguments - as you well know. If you persist in argument without getting a grasp of my arguments, are you not simply perpetuating a pointless and petty game? I know that I am too ready on this subject but - when people like yourself come along and post a critical/derogatory retort without bothering to try to understand my side, what am I to do? Well - before I would reiterate my argument - and then people, like yourself, complain that I repeat myself. I am repeating myself, partly, because you are repeating yourself. As for Taylor, with my paltry knowledge, last year, I predicted that he would be playing at a higher level than Bruno Berner and Jay McEveley in a few seasons - and at the moment, that prediction is on course. I don't want credit - anyone can be right a few times if they make enough predictions. However, I think that Taylor and Nolan's relative successes should be respected - and to respect them (without bitterness or prejudice) is to question why we let them go in favour of Berner, Simpson and McEveley. I realise that I am still mired into this debate - but try to forgive me - it's the only thing that interests me in football these days.
  23. Just thought I'd congratulate Andy Taylor on his move to Sheffield United. He turned down Champ clubs before to secure first team footy with Tranmere and now he's trying his hand at the second tier. I personally think that Mark Hughes dealt with him very badly for a number of reasons. However, he seems to have bounced back. Tranmere won't be to disappointed because they knew other clubs were circling and I believe that they have a youngster, Jennings, who they have high hopes for. I wonder if Rovers had a sell-on fee attached.
  24. Football wins. Despite the influx of gazillions from all quarters of this globe, the Premier League has rickets under the flowing skirt. The top teams are strong but the rest beg to differ and it's not just about financial inequality, it's also down to an unequal spread of brain cells. Some of the lower team managers are just dunderheads (the fact Pompey signed Moko is proof, in my opinion). Resorting to long ball is a way a manager can hide all his failings. He doesn't have to worry about developing his players psychologically or technically, he just gives them extra doses of pasta for lunch, wears a cap and is hailed as tasty as sliced bread. Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. Class trio that even the red-faced ignoramus hype spouted by the media cannot taint. (Although, they'll try their damnedest). Oh, yeah - Fergie. You've got one of the world's most skilful wingers on your books. You might want to try playing him on the wing and letting him play his game. Premier League trophy or not. Edit: Just to add, is Dimitar Berbatov the world's most expensive frill-wearing sloth? The guy is such a superficial footballer - such a Spurs player, in fact.
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